Mazz is one of my truly favorite guys in Boston media, a friend from the days we both covered John Calipari's UMass basketball teams. He is also the banner-carrier for a long tradition of Red Sox naysayers, finding the dark cloud before the sun has even risen to give us a view.

I hope he's wrong about this bullpen, but he may be right.

I differ from Mazz only in absolving (for now) Alfredo Aceves, who I think can be a reliable late-inning guy and an acceptable closer. His entry in a tie game Thursday caused me to raise the issue of whether the Red Sox might have too much faith in him because they don't have faith in anybody else.

Aceves entered because Mark Melancon, who looked like the 2012 closer until Andrew Bailey was acquired, was not allowed to pitch out of a jam he had created for himself.

It raised a chicken-and-egg type of question. Was Bobby Valentine wrong to show so little faith in Melancon, who shapes up as this year's bullpen version of Daniel Bard?

Or has Melancon, who lurched through a lukewarm spring (5.59 ERA), then got off on the wrong foot Thursday, not given Bobby V enough reason to trust him?

Melancon told WEEI.com the hook "felt a little quick.'' This being Boston, those words were taken as the first ingredients to a new controversy.

Somewhere, Curt Schilling must be patting himself on the back and saying "told you so.''

To grasp the full meaning, though, we should look at the full quote. In it, Melancon acknowledges the abrupt nature of his exit but also conceded he did not hold up his end.

Asked whether it felt like a quick hook, Melancon acknowledged, "Yeah, it did. It felt a little quick. But that's not my job. My job is to get outs and I didn't do that. I'm not going to think any more about that.''

It should also be said that the two hits allowed by Melancon were not exactly scalded. Valentine has three choices.

He can show more faith in Melancon and hope the results improve. He can turn to other guys (Matt Albers, Michael Bowden or Scott Atchison) instead of Melancon.

He can also go on bended knee to management, asking they find him some more proven late-inning relievers. Good luck with that one.

He can't expect Aceves to bail him out of every spot, whether Aceves is as good as I think or a little less so, as Massarotti seems to think.

Far, far away...remember Will Middlebrooks? The promising third baseman made a nice splash at spring training, then went 3-for-4 on Opening Day for Triple A Pawtucket.

Middlebrooks wants to avoid the path taken by Josh Reddick, who had a great spring training in 2010. With no room on the Boston roster, Reddick went to Triple A, where his hitting took a nosedive.

He got it together later that year, saw plenty of duty with Boston last year, but was never viewed in the same hot-prospect manner. He was sent to Oakland in the Andrew Bailey trade.

Middlebrooks may spend the entire year in Pawtucket, though you never know. Quality hitting will allow the Red Sox to keep him very much in mind, and only a phone call away.